Houston Strategies

---

President Trump is protectionist, but there is an exception. On March 17 the administration issued the longest and broadest waiver of the Jones Act since at least 1950, with the waiver currently set to expire on November 15. This waiver has unleased a surge of new shipping between United States ports, and Houston-area ports and industries are the biggest beneficiaries.

For those not familiar, the Jones Act, which became law in 1920, restricts transportation of cargo between U.S. ports to vessels that are American-built, American-flagged, American-owned, and American-crewed. This increases costs and limits vessel supply, stifling transportation between U.S. ports.

The Cato Institute has an excellent web site which shows shipping deliveries between U.S. ports on foreign-flagged vessels since the waiver started in March, with 306 voyages as of October 12. If you are interested in this topic, you should definitely visit the site. Below are some excerpts showing the amazing benefits to Houston and the overall United States economy.

These maps show the shipping deliveries on foreign-flagged vessels, which is in addition to deliveries on the U.S. fleet, which remains fully employed. The epicenter is the Texas Gulf Coast, and Port Houston is the largest center of activity, indicated by the largest circle.

Cato has a tabular listing of foreign flag vessel voyages, with impressive numbers for the Houston area. These numbers don't exactly match the data in the map annotations, so I'm showing both below. (Perhaps the map data is more up-to-date.) 75% of shipments in the Houston region are exports.

Below is a screenshot of Cato tabular data for Texas. It's unclear how the Texas total row is computed (it may be an error).

The availability of foreign-flagged vessels has made Puerto Rico a large new market for U.S. ports and industries. The U.S. fleet does not have a propane carrier, so under the Jones Act propane deliveries to Puerto Rico are impossible. With the waiver, Port Houston has sent four propane shipments to Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is probably the second biggest beneficiary of the waiver.

The waiver has also enabled shipments within the Houston region. For example, the Cato data shows five shipments of ethanol from Galveston to Houston.

Repeal the Jones Act!

Trump's waiver shows the economic benefits of expanded shipping between U.S. ports. The Houston area is the biggest beneficiary. Houston-area political leadership, ports and industrial interests should make permanent repeal of the Jones Act their top political priority.